Breast Milk Helped Convict Man In 'Unique' Case Of Wife’s Poisoning

A Michigan man has been found guilty of murder after he laced his wife’s cereal with a lethal dose of drugs in attempt to make it look like an overdose, according to prosecutors.

A Flint jury found Jason Harris, 47, guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, solicitation of murder and delivery of a controlled substance resulting in his wife’s death, all related to the poisoning death of Christina Ann Thompson Harris, 36, according to a statement emailed to Oxygen.com from Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. 

“This was a very tragic case, and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Christina Harris for their terrible loss,” said Leyton.

According to trial testimony, Jason Harris had told officers with the Davison Police Department that on the evening of Sept. 28, 2014, he served his wife a bowl of cereal. (He did not mention, though testimony showed, that he'd spiked the cereal with heroin.) He told police that his wife “had difficulty holding the spoon” and that he'd had to assist her into bed, where the couple fell asleep.

Jason Harris claimed that his wife was still asleep when he left for work the following day, taking their two children with him. When he couldn’t connect with his wife on the phone later that morning, he called their neighbor and asked her to check in. 

The neighbor found Christina “cold to the touch and unresponsive on the bed,” according to the prosecutor. 

First responders were called to the Davison residence and declared her dead a short time later.

The medical examiner initially listed the cause of death as an accidental overdose.

But Christina Harris' family felt her death was suspicious, telling the Davison Police Department that she was not a drug user. In the wake of the family’s concerns, police collected the woman's frozen breast milk, which she’d stored for her infant child, from the family freezer.

Testing proved the milk was negative for any trace of controlled substances.

“This is the first time in the state of Michigan that breast milk had been tested in a criminal case as evidence of a crime,” said Leyton.

The lab results of the breast milk weren’t the only evidence against Jason Harris presented at his trial.

“The police investigation revealed that Harris received $120,000 in life insurance benefits from Christina’s death,” said Leyton.

Jason Harris’ own brother and sister also told police that, in the days leading up to their sister-in-law's murder, their brother made statements about wanting to get rid of his wife.

Other witnesses testified that Jason Harris was in contact with “several women” — to whom he’d sent photos — both before and after his wife's death. Just nine days after killing his wife, Jason Harris purchased an airline ticket to visit one of the women in Rhode Island; thousands of texts established their relationship.

Then two weeks after murdering his wife, Jason Harris moved another woman into their home.

In 2019, the Genesee County medical examiner changed Christina’s manner of death from an accident to a homicide, allowing for prosecutors to formally charge Jason for her murder.

“The circumstances of this case make for a unique story and garner headlines in the media but, at the core of it, a family is mourning the loss of their loved one,” said Leyton. “I can only hope that today’s verdict will help them with closure as they continue to grieve — and they can feel some sense of comfort in knowing that justice under the law has been served.”

Jason Harris is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 10. He faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole.